The Urantia Book
PAPER 155
FLEEING THROUGH NORTHERN GALILEE
155:0.1 SOON after landing near Kheresa on this
eventful Sunday, Jesus and the twenty-four went a little way to
the north, where they spent the night in a beautiful park south of
Bethsaida-Julias. They were familiar with this camping place,
having stopped there in days gone by. Before retiring for the
night, the Master called his followers around him and discussed
with them the plans for their projected tour through Batanea and
northern Galilee to the Phoenician coast.
1. WHY DO THE HEATHEN RAGE?
155:1.1 Said Jesus: "You should all recall how
the Psalmist spoke of these times, saying, `Why do the heathen
rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set
themselves, and the rulers of the people take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break
the bonds of mercy asunder and let us cast away the cords of
love.'
155:1.2 "Today you see this fulfilled before
your eyes. But you shall not see the remainder of the Psalmist's
prophecy fulfilled, for he entertained erroneous ideas about the
Son of Man and his mission on earth. My kingdom is founded on
love, proclaimed in mercy, and established by unselfish service.
My Father does not sit in heaven laughing in derision at the
heathen. He is not wrathful in his great displeasure. True is the
promise that the Son shall have these so-called heathen (in
reality his ignorant and untaught brethren) for an inheritance.
And I will receive these gentiles with open arms of mercy and
affection. All this loving-kindness shall be shown the so-called
heathen, notwithstanding the unfortunate declaration of the record
which intimates that the triumphant Son `shall break them with a
rod of iron and dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.' The
Psalmist exhorted you to `serve the Lord with fear' -- I bid you
enter into the exalted privileges of divine sonship by faith; he
commands you to rejoice with trembling; I bid you rejoice with
assurance. He says, `Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you
perish when his wrath is kindled.' But you who have lived with me
well know that anger and wrath are not a part of the establishment
of the kingdom of heaven in the hearts of men. But the Psalmist
did glimpse the true light when, in finishing this exhortation, he
said: `Blessed are they who put their trust in this Son.'"
155:1.3 Jesus continued to teach the
twenty-four, saying: "The heathen are not without excuse when they
rage at us. Because their outlook is small and narrow, they are
able to concentrate their energies enthusiastically. Their goal is
near and more or less visible; wherefore do they strive with
valiant and effective execution. You who have professed entrance
into the kingdom of heaven are altogether too vacillating and
indefinite in your teaching conduct. The heathen strike directly
for their objectives; you are guilty of too much chronic yearning.
If you desire to enter the kingdom, why do you not take it by
spiritual assault even as the heathen take a city they lay siege
to? You are hardly worthy of the kingdom when your service
consists so largely in an attitude of regretting the past, whining
over the present, and vainly hoping for the future. Why do the
heathen rage? Because they know not the truth. Why do you languish
in futile yearning? Because you obey not the truth. Cease
your useless yearning and go forth bravely doing that which
concerns the establishment of the kingdom.
155:1.4 "In all that you do, become not
one-sided and overspecialized. The Pharisees who seek our
destruction verily think they are doing God's service. They have
become so narrowed by tradition that they are blinded by prejudice
and hardened by fear. Consider the Greeks, who have a science
without religion, while the Jews have a religion without science.
And when men become thus misled into accepting a narrow and
confused disintegration of truth, their only hope of salvation is
to become truth-co-ordinated -- converted.
155:1.5 "Let me emphatically state this eternal
truth: If you, by truth co-ordination, learn to exemplify in your
lives this beautiful wholeness of righteousness, your fellow men
will then seek after you that they may gain what you have so
acquired. The measure wherewith truth seekers are drawn to you
represents the measure of your truth endowment, your
righteousness. The extent to which you have to go with your
message to the people is, in a way, the measure of your failure to
live the whole or righteous life, the truth-co-ordinated life."
155:1.6 And many other things the Master taught
his apostles and the evangelists before they bade him good night
and sought rest upon their pillows.
2. THE EVANGELISTS IN CHORAZIN
155:2.1 On Monday morning, May 23, Jesus
directed Peter to go over to Chorazin with the twelve evangelists
while he, with the eleven, departed for Caesarea-Philippi, going
by way of the Jordan to the Damascus-Capernaum road, thence
northeast to the junction with the road to Caesarea-Philippi, and
then on into that city, where they tarried and taught for two
weeks. They arrived during the afternoon of Tuesday, May 24.
155:2.2 Peter and the evangelists sojourned in
Chorazin for two weeks, preaching the gospel of the kingdom to a
small but earnest company of believers. But they were not able to
win many new converts. No city of all Galilee yielded so few souls
for the kingdom as Chorazin. In accordance with Peter's
instructions the twelve evangelists had less to say about healing
-- things physical -- while they preached and taught with
increased vigor the spiritual truths of the heavenly kingdom.
These two weeks at Chorazin constituted a veritable baptism of
adversity for the twelve evangelists in that it was the most
difficult and unproductive period in their careers up to this
time. Being thus deprived of the satisfaction of winning souls for
the kingdom, each of them the more earnestly and honestly took
stock of his own soul and its progress in the spiritual paths of
the new life.
155:2.3 When it appeared that no more people
were minded to seek entrance into the kingdom, Peter, on Tuesday,
June 7, called his associates together and departed for
Caesarea-Philippi to join Jesus and the apostles. They arrived
about noontime on Wednesday and spent the entire evening in
rehearsing their experiences among the unbelievers of Chorazin.
During the discussions of this evening Jesus made further
reference to the parable of the sower and taught them much about
the meaning of the apparent failure of life undertakings.
3. AT CAESAREA-PHILIPPI
155:3.1 Although Jesus did no public work during
this two weeks' sojourn near Caesarea-Philippi, the apostles held
numerous quiet evening meetings in the city, and many of the
believers came out to the camp to talk with the Master. Very few
were added to the group of believers as a result of this visit.
Jesus talked with the apostles each day, and they more clearly
discerned that a new phase of the work of preaching the kingdom of
heaven was now beginning. They were commencing to comprehend that
the "kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink but the realization
of the spiritual joy of the acceptance of divine sonship."
155:3.2 The sojourn at Caesarea-Philippi was a
real test to the eleven apostles; it was a difficult two weeks for
them to live through. They were well-nigh depressed, and they
missed the periodic stimulation of Peter's enthusiastic
personality. In these times it was truly a great and testing
adventure to believe in Jesus and go forth to follow after him.
Though they made few converts during these two weeks, they did
learn much that was highly profitable from their daily conferences
with the Master.
155:3.3 The apostles learned that the Jews were
spiritually stagnant and dying because they had crystallized truth
into a creed; that when truth becomes formulated as a boundary
line of self-righteous exclusiveness instead of serving as
signposts of spiritual guidance and progress, such teachings lose
their creative and life-giving power and ultimately become merely
preservative and fossilizing.
155:3.4 Increasingly they learned from Jesus to
look upon human personalities in terms of their possibilities in
time and in eternity. They learned that many souls can best be led
to love the unseen God by being first taught to love their
brethren whom they can see. And it was in this connection that new
meaning became attached to the Master's pronouncement concerning
unselfish service for one's fellows: "Inasmuch as you did it to
one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me."
155:3.5 One of the great lessons of this sojourn
at Caesarea had to do with the origin of religious traditions,
with the grave danger of allowing a sense of sacredness to become
attached to nonsacred things, common ideas, or everyday events.
From one conference they emerged with the teaching that true
religion was man's heartfelt loyalty to his highest and truest
convictions.
155:3.6 Jesus warned his believers that, if
their religious longings were only material, increasing knowledge
of nature would, by progressive displacement of the supposed
supernatural origin of things, ultimately deprive them of their
faith in God. But that, if their religion were spiritual, never
could the progress of physical science disturb their faith in
eternal realities and divine values.
155:3.7 They learned that, when religion is
wholly spiritual in motive, it makes all life more worth while,
filling it with high purposes, dignifying it with transcendent
values, inspiring it with superb motives, all the while comforting
the human soul with a sublime and sustaining hope. True religion
is designed to lessen the strain of existence; it releases faith
and courage for daily living and unselfish serving. Faith promotes
spiritual vitality and righteous fruitfulness.
155:3.8 Jesus repeatedly taught his apostles
that no civilization could long survive the loss of the best in
its religion. And he never grew weary of pointing out to the
twelve the great danger of accepting religious symbols and
ceremonies in the place of religious experience. His whole earth
life was consistently devoted to the mission of thawing out the
frozen forms of religion into the liquid liberties of enlightened
sonship.
4. ON THE WAY TO PHOENICIA
155:4.1 On Thursday morning, June 9, after
receiving word regarding the progress of the kingdom brought by
the messengers of David from Bethsaida, this group of twenty-five
teachers of truth left Caesarea-Philippi to begin their journey to
the Phoenician coast. They passed around the marsh country, by way
of Luz, to the point of junction with the Magdala-Mount Lebanon
trail road, thence to the crossing with the road leading to Sidon,
arriving there Friday afternoon.
155:4.2 While pausing for lunch under the shadow
of an overhanging ledge of rock, near Luz, Jesus delivered one of
the most remarkable addresses which his apostles ever listened to
throughout all their years of association with him. No sooner had
they seated themselves to break bread than Simon Peter asked
Jesus: "Master, since the Father in heaven knows all things, and
since his spirit is our support in the establishment of the
kingdom of heaven on earth, why is it that we flee from the
threats of our enemies? Why do we refuse to confront the foes of
truth?" But before Jesus had begun to answer Peter's question,
Thomas broke in, asking: "Master, I should really like to know
just what is wrong with the religion of our enemies at Jerusalem.
What is the real difference between their religion and ours? Why
is it we are at such diversity of belief when we all profess to
serve the same God?" And when Thomas had finished, Jesus said:
"While I would not ignore Peter's question, knowing full well how
easy it would be to misunderstand my reasons for avoiding an open
clash with the rulers of the Jews at just this time, still it will
prove more helpful to all of you if I choose rather to answer
Thomas's question. And that I will proceed to do when you have
finished your lunch."
5. THE DISCOURSE ON TRUE RELIGION
155:5.1 This memorable discourse on religion,
summarized and restated in modern phraseology, gave expression to
the following truths:
155:5.2 While the religions of the world have a
double origin -- natural and revelatory -- at any one time and
among any one people there are to be found three distinct forms of
religious devotion. And these three manifestations of the
religious urge are:
155:5.3 1. Primitive religion. The
seminatural and instinctive urge to fear mysterious energies and
worship superior forces, chiefly a religion of the physical
nature, the religion of fear.
155:5.4 2. The religion of civilization.
The advancing religious concepts and practices of the civilizing
races -- the religion of the mind -- the intellectual theology of
the authority of established religious tradition.
155:5.5 3. True religion -- the religion of
revelation. The revelation of supernatural values, a partial
insight into eternal realities, a glimpse of the goodness and
beauty of the infinite character of the Father in heaven -- the
religion of the spirit as demonstrated in human experience.
155:5.6 The religion of the physical senses and
the superstitious fears of natural man, the Master refused to
belittle, though he deplored the fact that so much of this
primitive form of worship should persist in the religious forms of
the more intelligent races of mankind. Jesus made it clear that
the great difference between the religion of the mind and the
religion of the spirit is that, while the former is upheld by
ecclesiastical authority, the latter is wholly based on human
experience.
155:5.7
And then the Master, in his hour of
teaching, went on to make clear these truths:
155:5.8 Until the races become highly
intelligent and more fully civilized, there will persist many of
those childlike and superstitious ceremonies which are so
characteristic of the evolutionary religious practices of
primitive and backward peoples. Until the human race progresses to
the level of a higher and more general recognition of the
realities of spiritual experience, large numbers of men and women
will continue to show a personal preference for those religions of
authority which require only intellectual assent, in contrast to
the religion of the spirit, which entails active participation of
mind and soul in the faith adventure of grappling with the
rigorous realities of progressive human experience.
155:5.9 The acceptance of the traditional
religions of authority presents the easy way out for man's urge to
seek satisfaction for the longings of his spiritual nature. The
settled, crystallized, and established religions of authority
afford a ready refuge to which the distracted and distraught soul
of man may flee when harassed by fear and tormented by
uncertainty. Such a religion requires of its devotees, as the
price to be paid for its satisfactions and assurances, only a
passive and purely intellectual assent.
155:5.10 And for a long time there will live on
earth those timid, fearful, and hesitant individuals who will
prefer thus to secure their religious consolations, even though,
in so casting their lot with the religions of authority, they
compromise the sovereignty of personality, debase the dignity of
self-respect, and utterly surrender the right to participate in
that most thrilling and inspiring of all possible human
experiences: the personal quest for truth, the exhilaration of
facing the perils of intellectual discovery, the determination to
explore the realities of personal religious experience, the
supreme satisfaction of experiencing the personal triumph of the
actual realization of the victory of spiritual faith over
intellectual doubt as it is honestly won in the supreme adventure
of all human existence -- man seeking God, for himself and as
himself, and finding him.
155:5.11 The religion of the spirit means
effort, struggle, conflict, faith, determination, love, loyalty,
and progress. The religion of the mind -- the theology of
authority -- requires little or none of these exertions from its
formal believers. Tradition is a safe refuge and an easy path for
those fearful and halfhearted souls who instinctively shun the
spirit struggles and mental uncertainties associated with those
faith voyages of daring adventure out upon the high seas of
unexplored truth in search for the farther shores of spiritual
realities as they may be discovered by the progressive human mind
and experienced by the evolving human soul.
155:5.12 And Jesus went on to say: "At Jerusalem
the religious leaders have formulated the various doctrines of
their traditional teachers and the prophets of other days into an
established system of intellectual beliefs, a religion of
authority. The appeal of all such religions is largely to the
mind. And now are we about to enter upon a deadly conflict with
such a religion since we will so shortly begin the bold
proclamation of a new religion -- a religion which is not a
religion in the present-day meaning of that word, a religion that
makes its chief appeal to the divine spirit of my Father which
resides in the mind of man; a religion which shall derive its
authority from the fruits of its acceptance that will so certainly
appear in the personal experience of all who really and truly
become believers in the truths of this higher spiritual
communion."
155:5.13 Pointing out each of the twenty-four
and calling them by name, Jesus said: "And now, which one of you
would prefer to take this easy path of conformity to an
established and fossilized religion, as defended by the Pharisees
at Jerusalem, rather than to suffer the difficulties and
persecutions attendant upon the mission of proclaiming a better
way of salvation to men while you realize the satisfaction of
discovering for yourselves the beauties of the realities of a
living and personal experience in the eternal truths and supreme
grandeurs of the kingdom of heaven? Are you fearful, soft, and
ease-seeking? Are you afraid to trust your future in the hands of
the God of truth, whose sons you are? Are you distrustful of the
Father, whose children you are? Will you go back to the easy path
of the certainty and intellectual settledness of the religion of
traditional authority, or will you gird yourselves to go forward
with me into that uncertain and troublous future of proclaiming
the new truths of the religion of the spirit, the kingdom of
heaven in the hearts of men?"
155:5.14 All twenty-four of his hearers rose to
their feet, intending to signify their united and loyal response
to this, one of the few emotional appeals which Jesus ever made to
them, but he raised his hand and stopped them, saying: "Go now
apart by yourselves, each man alone with the Father, and there
find the unemotional answer to my question, and having found such
a true and sincere attitude of soul, speak that answer freely and
boldly to my Father and your Father, whose infinite life of love
is the very spirit of the religion we proclaim."
155:5.15 The evangelists and apostles went apart
by themselves for a short time. Their spirits were uplifted, their
minds were inspired, and their emotions mightily stirred by what
Jesus had said. But when Andrew called them together, the Master
said only: "Let us resume our journey. We go into Phoenicia to
tarry for a season, and all of you should pray the Father to
transform your emotions of mind and body into the higher loyalties
of mind and the more satisfying experiences of the spirit."
155:5.16 As they journeyed on down the road, the
twenty-four were silent, but presently they began to talk one with
another, and by three o'clock that afternoon they could not go
farther; they came to a halt, and Peter, going up to Jesus, said:
"Master, you have spoken to us the words of life and truth. We
would hear more; we beseech you to speak to us further concerning
these matters."
6. THE SECOND DISCOURSE ON RELIGION
155:6.1 And so, while they paused in the shade
of the hillside, Jesus continued to teach them regarding the
religion of the spirit, in substance saying:
155:6.2 You have come out from among those of
your fellows who choose to remain satisfied with a religion of
mind, who crave security and prefer conformity. You have elected
to exchange your feelings of authoritative certainty for the
assurances of the spirit of adventurous and progressive faith. You
have dared to protest against the grueling bondage of
institutional religion and to reject the authority of the
traditions of record which are now regarded as the word of God.
Our Father did indeed speak through Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Amos,
and Hosea, but he did not cease to minister words of truth to the
world when these prophets of old made an end of their utterances.
My Father is no respecter of races or generations in that the word
of truth is vouchsafed one age and withheld from another. Commit
not the folly of calling that divine which is wholly human, and
fail not to discern the words of truth which come not through the
traditional oracles of supposed inspiration.
155:6.3 I have called upon you to be born again,
to be born of the spirit. I have called you out of the darkness of
authority and the lethargy of tradition into the transcendent
light of the realization of the possibility of making for
yourselves the greatest discovery possible for the human soul to
make -- the supernal experience of finding God for yourself, in
yourself, and of yourself, and of doing all this as a fact in your
own personal experience. And so may you pass from death to life,
from the authority of tradition to the experience of knowing God;
thus will you pass from darkness to light, from a racial faith
inherited to a personal faith achieved by actual experience; and
thereby will you progress from a theology of mind handed down by
your ancestors to a true religion of spirit which shall be built
up in your souls as an eternal endowment.
155:6.4 Your religion shall change from the mere
intellectual belief in traditional authority to the actual
experience of that living faith which is able to grasp the reality
of God and all that relates to the divine spirit of the Father.
The religion of the mind ties you hopelessly to the past; the
religion of the spirit consists in progressive revelation and ever
beckons you on toward higher and holier achievements in spiritual
ideals and eternal realities.
155:6.5 While the religion of authority may
impart a present feeling of settled security, you pay for such a
transient satisfaction the price of the loss of your spiritual
freedom and religious liberty. My Father does not require of you
as the price of entering the kingdom of heaven that you should
force yourself to subscribe to a belief in things which are
spiritually repugnant, unholy, and untruthful. It is not required
of you that your own sense of mercy, justice, and truth should be
outraged by submission to an outworn system of religious forms and
ceremonies. The religion of the spirit leaves you forever free to
follow the truth wherever the leadings of the spirit may take you.
And who can judge -- perhaps this spirit may have something to
impart to this generation which other generations have refused to
hear?
155:6.6 Shame on those false religious teachers
who would drag hungry souls back into the dim and distant past and
there leave them! And so are these unfortunate persons doomed to
become frightened by every new discovery, while they are
discomfited by every new revelation of truth. The prophet who
said, "He will be kept in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on
God," was not a mere intellectual believer in authoritative
theology. This truth-knowing human had discovered God; he was not
merely talking about God.
155:6.7 I admonish you to give up the practice
of always quoting the prophets of old and praising the heroes of
Israel, and instead aspire to become living prophets of the Most
High and spiritual heroes of the coming kingdom. To honor the
God-knowing leaders of the past may indeed be worth while, but
why, in so doing, should you sacrifice the supreme experience of
human existence: finding God for yourselves and knowing him in
your own souls?
155:6.8 Every race of mankind has its own mental
outlook upon human existence; therefore must the religion of the
mind ever run true to these various racial viewpoints. Never can
the religions of authority come to unification. Human unity and
mortal brotherhood can be achieved only by and through the
superendowment of the religion of the spirit. Racial minds may
differ, but all mankind is indwelt by the same divine and eternal
spirit. The hope of human brotherhood can only be realized when,
and as, the divergent mind religions of authority become
impregnated with, and overshadowed by, the unifying and ennobling
religion of the spirit -- the religion of personal spiritual
experience.
155:6.9 The religions of authority can only
divide men and set them in conscientious array against each other;
the religion of the spirit will progressively draw men together
and cause them to become understandingly sympathetic with one
another. The religions of authority require of men uniformity in
belief, but this is impossible of realization in the present state
of the world. The religion of the spirit requires only unity of
experience -- uniformity of destiny -- making full allowance for
diversity of belief. The religion of the spirit requires only
uniformity of insight, not uniformity of viewpoint and outlook.
The religion of the spirit does not demand uniformity of
intellectual views, only unity of spirit feeling. The religions of
authority crystallize into lifeless creeds; the religion of the
spirit grows into the increasing joy and liberty of ennobling
deeds of loving service and merciful ministration.
155:6.10 But watch, lest any of you look with
disdain upon the children of Abraham because they have fallen on
these evil days of traditional barrenness. Our forefathers gave
themselves up to the persistent and passionate search for God, and
they found him as no other whole race of men have ever known him
since the times of Adam, who knew much of this as he was himself a
Son of God. My Father has not failed to mark the long and untiring
struggle of Israel, ever since the days of Moses, to find God and
to know God. For weary generations the Jews have not ceased to
toil, sweat, groan, travail, and endure the sufferings and
experience the sorrows of a misunderstood and despised people, all
in order that they might come a little nearer the discovery of the
truth about God. And, notwithstanding all the failures and
falterings of Israel, our fathers progressively, from Moses to the
times of Amos and Hosea, did reveal increasingly to the whole
world an ever clearer and more truthful picture of the eternal
God. And so was the way prepared for the still greater revelation
of the Father which you have been called to share.
155:6.11 Never forget there is only one
adventure which is more satisfying and thrilling than the attempt
to discover the will of the living God, and that is the supreme
experience of honestly trying to do that divine will. And fail not
to remember that the will of God can be done in any earthly
occupation. Some callings are not holy and others secular. All
things are sacred in the lives of those who are spirit led; that
is, subordinated to truth, ennobled by love, dominated by mercy,
and restrained by fairness -- justice. The spirit which my Father
and I shall send into the world is not only the Spirit of Truth
but also the spirit of idealistic beauty.
155:6.12 You must cease to seek for the word of
God only on the pages of the olden records of theologic authority.
Those who are born of the spirit of God shall henceforth discern
the word of God regardless of whence it appears to take origin.
Divine truth must not be discounted because the channel of its
bestowal is apparently human. Many of your brethren have minds
which accept the theory of God while they spiritually fail to
realize the presence of God. And that is just the reason why I
have so often taught you that the kingdom of heaven can best be
realized by acquiring the spiritual attitude of a sincere child.
It is not the mental immaturity of the child that I commend to you
but rather the spiritual simplicity of such an
easy-believing and fully-trusting little one. It is not so
important that you should know about the fact of God as that you
should increasingly grow in the ability to feel the presence of
God.
155:6.13 When you once begin to find God in your
soul, presently you will begin to discover him in other men's
souls and eventually in all the creatures and creations of a
mighty universe. But what chance does the Father have to appear as
a God of supreme loyalties and divine ideals in the souls of men
who give little or no time to the thoughtful contemplation of such
eternal realities? While the mind is not the seat of the spiritual
nature, it is indeed the gateway thereto.
155:6.14 But do not make the mistake of trying
to prove to other men that you have found God; you cannot
consciously produce such valid proof, albeit there are two
positive and powerful demonstrations of the fact that you are
God-knowing, and they are:
155:6.15 1. The fruits of the spirit of God
showing forth in your daily routine life.
155:6.16 2. The fact that your entire life plan
furnishes positive proof that you have unreservedly risked
everything you are and have on the adventure of survival after
death in the pursuit of the hope of finding the God of eternity,
whose presence you have foretasted in time.
155:6.17 Now, mistake not, my Father will ever
respond to the faintest flicker of faith. He takes note of the
physical and superstitious emotions of the primitive man. And with
those honest but fearful souls whose faith is so weak that it
amounts to little more than an intellectual conformity to a
passive attitude of assent to religions of authority, the Father
is ever alert to honor and foster even all such feeble attempts to
reach out for him. But you who have been called out of darkness
into the light are expected to believe with a whole heart; your
faith shall dominate the combined attitudes of body, mind, and
spirit.
155:6.18 You are my apostles, and to you
religion shall not become a theologic shelter to which you may
flee in fear of facing the rugged realities of spiritual progress
and idealistic adventure; but rather shall your religion become
the fact of real experience which testifies that God has found
you, idealized, ennobled, and spiritualized you, and that you have
enlisted in the eternal adventure of finding the God who has thus
found and sonshipped you.
155:6.19 And when Jesus had finished speaking,
he beckoned to Andrew and, pointing to the west toward Phoenicia,
said: "Let us be on our way."
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